Climate Change: Pushing Species To The Brink

Thirty-five percent of the world’s birds, 52 percent of amphibians and
71 percent of warm-water reef-building corals are likely to be
particularly susceptible to climate change, the first results of an
IUCN study have revealed.

The report identified more than 90 biological traits which are
believed to make species most susceptible to climate change. It found
that 3,438 of the world’s 9,856 bird species have at least one out of
11 traits that could make them susceptible to climate change.

Albatross, penguin, petrel and shearwater families are all likely to
be susceptible to climate change, while heron and egret families, and
osprey, kite, hawk and eagle families are among those least likely to
be susceptible to climate change.

“This is the first time that a systematic assessments of species’
susceptibility to climate change has been attempted,” says Wendy Foden,
of IUCN’s Species Programme. “Climate change is already happening, but
conservation decision makers currently have very little guidance on
which species are going to be the worst affected.”

The study found 3,217 of the 6,222 amphibians in the world are
likely to be susceptible to climate change. Three salamander families
are could be particularly susceptible, while 80-100 percent of
Seychelles frogs and Indian Burrowing Frogs, Australian ground frogs,
horned toads and glassfrog families were assessed as susceptible.

Specialized habitat requirements, such as species with
water-dependant larvae, and those unable to disperse due to barriers
such as large water bodies or human-transformed habitats are most at
risk.

The report found that 566 of 799 warm-water reef-building coral
species are likely to be susceptible to the impacts of climate change.
The Acroporidae family, including staghorn corals, had particularly
high numbers of susceptible species, while the Fungiidae family,
including mushroom corals, and the Mussidae family, including some
brain corals, possess relatively few.

Coral species qualified due to their sensitivity to increases in
temperature, sedimentation and physical damage from storms and
cyclones. Poor dispersal ability and colonization potential were used
as a further important indicators.

According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 32 percent of
amphibians are threatened with extinction. Of these, 75 percent are
susceptible to climate change while 41 percent of non-threatened
species are susceptible to climate change. For birds, the overall
percentage of those threatened with extinction is lower – 12 percent.
However, 80 percent of those are susceptible to climate change.

“There is a large overlap between threatened and climate change
susceptible amphibian and bird species,” says Jean-Christophe Vié,
Deputy Head of IUCN Species Programme. “Climate change may cause a
sharp rise in the risk and rate of extinction of currently threatened
species. But we also want to highlight species which are currently not
threatened but are likely to become so as climate change impacts
intensify. By doing this we hope to promote preemptive and more
effective conservation action.”